Kia SPORTAGE 2.0-LITRE CRDi DIESEL
As a schoolboy, there were few words I dreaded more than "Get your pen, pencil and ruler out for mathematics." Maths was a definite blind spot for me, largely due to a teacher who was utterly unenthusiastic and the fact that I spent two years sitting next to the class clown. Fortunately only a very basic level of arithmetical prowess is required to figure out whether the Kia Sportage 2.0-litre diesel makes a very wise buy.
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0-litre petrol version of the Sportage costs £14,495 and £15,995 in XE and XS trim respectively, so buying diesel is going to cost you an additional £1,200. Is it worth the premium? That may well depend on how many miles per year you drive and how long you plan to keep the car. If, like many British motorists, you average around 12,000 miles a year and plan to keep your Sportage diesel for three years before trading it in against something else, the figures are interesting. A petrol Sportage XE will consume £3,777 worth of fuel whereas the diesel will sup £3,482 worth of fuel.
A £295 fuel saving for an additional expense of £1,200 may not seem particularly special, but think of it as a bonus. You see, when the time comes to sell the Sportage diesel, itll hold onto its value better than its petrol counterpart, and given that many owners will finance their buy with a guaranteed residual value at the end of their ownership period, the diesel version should work out the more cost effective buy. Cover more miles and the sums will swing increasingly in favour of the car that drinks from the black pump. Maths exercise over, its now time to look at what youre actually getting for your money.
Although the engine isnt Euro IV compliant (something that company car users will need to be aware of), it is a modern common rail powerplant and emissions are pegged at a very respectable 187g/km. With four cylinders displacing 1991cc, this 16v engine develops 111bhp at a fairly high 4,000rpm. Its good for a top speed of 104mph and will cover the sprint to 60mph in 13.5 seconds.
The engine seems to lack the midrange shove of most common-rail diesels, almost as if its turbocharger was bleeding away boost, but the flipside of this is a very pleasant linearity of feel that makes it an easy engine to live with day in, day out.
"This diesel engine doesnt have that elastic lag and surge characteristic that afflicts so many other such units"
A combined fuel economy figure nudging 40mpg is very respectable going for such a spacious vehicle and even around town the Sportage will see over 30mpg. The diesel is moderately capable off road, although anything too arduous will betray its comparative lack of wheel articulation. Even over modest obstacles, the Sportage is prone to lifting a wheel and the four-wheel drive system isnt quite clever enough to realise when one wheel is six inches off the ground and divert drive to the other wheel. Instead it uses a more rudimentary torque on demand system that keeps the Sportage in front wheel drive up until that moment when the front wheels start slipping.
It then transfers a percentage of drive to the rear wheels. Unfortunately it seems a little dull witted when performing this task, allowing the car to sit spinning its front wheels impotently for a few seconds before deciding to switch to all wheel drive. Curiously, Kia do not see established budget 4x4s as the Sportages key competition, citing diesel hatchbacks as their chief target for conquest sales. "At just over fifteen and a half grand," said a Kia spokesman, "the new Sportage 2.0CRDi XE provides a realistic alternative to the family motorist who is currently driving one of the mainstream diesel hatchbacks from Ford, Peugeot, Renault or Vauxhall and would like to graduate to SUV (Sports Utility Vehicle) motoring." Hard to argue with that. The Sportage also adopts a few MPV-style practicality features. The rear seat cushion and the backrest are a case in point, adopting Kias Fold and Dive system. Whilst it may sound like a tactic taught by Argentinean football coaches, it is in fact a method of creating a spacious, square-sided and completely flat cargo area.
The front passenger seat backrest can also be folded flat to house extra long loads and at the back theres even a flip-up rear window which means that items can be dropped into the luggage area without having to open the tailgate. Not that opening the tailgate is overly difficult. Unlike many compact 4x4s, the Sportage is big enough to keep the spare wheel in its proper place under the luggage bay floor instead of mounting it on the rear tailgate. This means that the tailgate is pleasantly light to open and doesnt whistle at motorway speeds a problem that afflicts cars with hatch mounted spares.
The cabin is styled in a broadly inoffensive manner with far more attention paid to ergonomics than its rather haphazardly styled predecessor. If only Kia could prevent themselves adding icky plastic wood to the dashboards. The Sportage interior waves goodbye to the acres of featureless elephant-grey plastics and instead offers a neat cluster of instruments on the centre console, mounted high so that you dont need to go fishing about at shin level to adjust the air conditioning. On the other side of the steering wheel assembly are the switches for the four-wheel drive system and the ESP stability control while the fascia itself features a metallic bezel around the main instruments.
Equipment levels are generous with even the entry-level XE version being fitted with an MP3 compatible CD stereo, air conditioning and electric windows. Slapping a low sticker price on a car isnt anything particularly clever. Being able to do so while at the same time offering a quality product is a trickier proposition. Kia have pulled that off with the Sportage 2.
0 CRDi diesel. If you need a small 4x4 and are looking to use it for towing, light off road use or just want to keep day-to-day running costs at a manageable level, look no further.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
CAR: Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi diesel range
PRICES: £15,695-£17,195 - on the road
INSURANCE GROUP: 9D
CO2 EMISSIONS: 187g/km
PERFORMANCE: 0-60mph 13.5s / Max Speed 104mph
FUEL CONSUMPTION: (Combined) 39.8mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front airbags, ABS
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Heightmm 4325/1830/1730mm [est]
